System and method for creating avatars or animated sequences using human body features extracted from a still image

ABSTRACT

A user may create an avatar and/or animated sequence illustrating a particular object or living being performing a certain activity, using images of portions of the object or living being extracted from a still image or set of still images of the object or living being.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/963,940 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING AVATARS ORANIMATED SEQUENCES USING HUMAN BODY FEATURES EXTRACTED FROM A STILLIMAGE” (Attorney Docket No. 26025US01), filed Aug. 9, 2013, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods forproducing animated content. More specifically, certain embodiments ofthe present invention relate to a system and method for creating anavatar and/or an associated animated sequences from features of anobject or living being extracted from a composite still image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Animated sequences illustrating human or cartoon activity forinstructional or entertainment purposes have traditionally been drawn byartists and creators cell by cell using pencil and paper or paintbrushand a clear sheet. In recent years, creation has increasingly been aidedthrough the use of computer graphics systems designed to automateaspects of production, improving quality and reducing the amount of timeneeded. Such systems are typically expensive and complex, and have beendesigned primarily with high quality animation in mind. Automatedsystems for shopping mall kiosk creation of video entertainmentsequences capture the facial image of a user employing “green screen”techniques and physical props to isolate the face of the user from theremainder of their appearance, and then place the isolated image of theuser's face within a stock video action sequence. While requiring littlefrom the user, such systems are very limited in their functionality andflexibility.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for creating an avatar and/or an animatedsequence from features of an object or living being extracted from acomposite still image, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system on which arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary composite image of a group of four individualsthat a user may wish to employ as a source image to be used in thecreation of an avatar and/or an animated sequence, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a composite image that may, for example correspond to thecomposite image of FIG. 2, in which bounding boxes are displayed thatidentify four sub-images that have been recognized or interpreted as ahuman being by an image segmentation or object recognition algorithm, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an image that may correspond, for example, to the sub-imagecontained within the bounding box of FIG. 3, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an illustration of a meshed polygon model of a human beingshowing the locations of reference points that may correspondrespectively to, for example, the reference points of the recognizedimage portions represented by the bounding boxes illustrated in FIG. 4,in accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of operating asystem for creating an animated sequence from a still image, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device thatmay correspond, for example, to electronic devices shown in FIG. 1, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention relate to systems and methods forproducing an avatar(s) and/or associated animated graphics. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to asystem and method for creating an avatar(s) and/or an associatedanimated sequence from features of an object or living being extractedfrom a composite still image.

A representative embodiment of the present invention permits a user tocreate an avatar(s) and/or an associated animated sequence illustratinga particular individual performing a certain activity, using images ofhuman body features extracted from one or more still images of theindividual, other individuals, and/or other objects. The resultingavatar and/or associated animated sequence may be created to includerecognizable facial or other features of the individual(s)/objects, andmay, for example, be suitable for exchange over the Internet, or as partof a game or other activity.

A representative embodiment of the present invention may be used tocreate a certain look and feel, and a certain emotional/personalconnection with the user, because the avatar and/or animated sequencecomes from objects or living beings that the user has a personalconnection to, whether photos/images of the user, or objects or livingbeings from social media and other media sources that the user choosesas source material.

While the following discussion provides example uses of the systems andmethods of representative embodiments of the present invention, theseare offered for illustrative purposes only, and do not necessarilyrepresent specific limitations unless explicitly recited by the claims.

The term “avatar” may be used herein to refer to a movable image ormodel that represents a living being or thing in a virtual realityenvironment or in cyberspace. An avatar may be two dimensional (2D) orthree dimensional (3D), and a 3D model for an avatar may be rendered toproduce a 2D image for display to a user.

The term “composite image” may be used herein to refer to an imagecontaining a variety of objects or living beings, including an object orliving being of interest, which are distributed within the compositeimage, and that may or may not overlap one another and occlude or blockvisibility of portions of one another, in contrast to an imagecontaining only the object or living being of interest against a plain,uniform, or homogenous background.

The term “texture” may be used herein to refer to the visual appearanceof a material or shading or other attributes added to the “surface” of agraphical image to give the illusion of a physical substance.

The terms “texture map” and “texture mapping” may be used herein torefer to the process of applying an image to a surface. The term “mesh”may be used herein to refer to a group of polygons which are connectedby shared vertices. Mesh or polygonal modeling may be used to representthe surfaces of a three-dimension object or living being. The terms“vertex” and “vertices” may be used herein to refer to a point inthree-dimensional space, the term “edge” may be user herein to refer totwo points connected by a straight line, and the term “polygon” may beused herein to refer to a closed planar figure consisting of a set ofthree or more points joined by a corresponding number of edges. The term“render” may be used herein to refer to the process of generating animage from a model or models, by means of computer programs.

The terms “user” and “end-user” may be used interchangeably to refer toa person that employs a system or method as described herein to producean avatar and/or animated sequence for their own use, possibly fromimage(s) they have selected, in contrast to the administrators, makers,or developers of such methods and systems.

As utilized herein, the terms “exemplary” or “example” mean serving as anon-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein, theterm “e.g.” introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples,instances, or illustrations.

In accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention,a user may, for example, desire to use an image of him/herself, ofanother, or of their pet or other animal(s)/object(s) in an animatedsequence showing them, for example, climbing a mountain, riding abicycle, playing a game, or taking part in another activity. The usermay identify/designate/select a stored composite image in which theyappear, or they may ask a system in accordance with the presentinvention to capture their image and to then search local and/orexternal storage to find stored composite image(s) in which theircaptured image appears. In some representative embodiments of thepresent invention, one or more interpretations of the composite image(s)may be displayed, showing the location(s) that the system has identifiedas being an image of the user. This allows the system to presentalternative interpretations sorted by a ranking criterion such as, forexample, probability of a likeness match, for consideration andselection by the user, and increases the chance that the bestinterpretation is available to the user for use in creating an avatarand/or animated sequence.

The user may then choose a composite image to be used for creation ofthe avatar(s) and/or associated animated sequence from those found bythe search. The user may then choose the form of animation (e.g.,climbing, running, walking, playing) they desire, and may choose abackground scene in which they wish their image to appear. Arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may then analyze theuser-selected composite image to recognize and extract portions of theuser image appearing in the user-selected composite image, that areneeded for the chosen animation. The extracted portions of the userimage may then be embodied in an avatar(s) and animated according to theform of animation chosen by the user, and an animated sequence may beassembled by compositing the avatar and animation of the extractedportions of the composite image with the background scene chosen by theuser. In some representative embodiments of the present invention, thebackground scene may be automatically provided to the user based on userselection or preferences, or may be retrieved from various sources ofstored images belonging to the user or external sources available to thepublic, based upon a textual description provided by the user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system 100 on whicha representative embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a computer system 150comprising one or more web servers 154, one or more database servers156, and one or more application servers 152. The elements of thecomputer system 150 may be interconnected, and may singly or as a groupbe connected to Internet 105 via communication link 107, which mayemploy any suitable combination of wired or wireless data communicationlinks. FIG. 1 also includes personal computers (PCs) 110, 115, which areconnected to the Internet 105 by communications links 108, 109,respectively, which may be any suitable combination of wired or wirelessdata communication links. PCs 110, 115 may be any of, for example, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a netbookcomputer, a tablet computer, a smartphone/cell phone, or any otherelectronic device such as, for example, a television having computingand communication functionality. Such PCs and other electronic devicesmay, for example, have capabilities suitable for accessing the Internet105 from, for example, a home, a small business, or any private orpublic area having suitable support for communications links 108, 109.The PCs 110, 115 may equipped with capability to capture images using,for example, an integrated or accessory/external digital imaging device,or an external digital camera. Images captured by an integrated or anaccessory/external imaging device may be stored at any suitable locationincluding, for example, the PCs 110, 115 and the computer system 150.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates a user communication device 125 that maycomprise, for example, a tablet computer, a smart phone, or otherhandheld electronic device that may, for example, be capable ofoperating as a stand-alone computing platform, in addition to oralternatively communicating with the computer system 150 via a wirelessnetwork 120, a communication link 127, and the Internet 105. Thecommunication device 125 of FIG. 1 may include suitable softwareapplications, hardware, and logic to permit the communication device todisplay, for example, locally generated images or received web pages andother forms of digital information on a display of the communicationdevice 125, and suitable user interface (UI) elements to permit a userto interact with the computer system 150 using tactual, speech, andother forms of input. The communication device 125 may also be equippedwith one or more integrated image capture devices (not shown), or may beable to capture images using an external imaging device such as a videocamera or digital imager. Images captured by an integrated image capturedevice or an external imaging device may be stored at any suitablelocation including, for example, the communication device 125 and thecomputer system 150. The wireless network 120 may support communicationof digital information using any suitable wireless access technologyincluding, for example, any combination of short-range, long range,Wi-Fi, cellular, personal communication system (PCS), Bluetooth, NearField communication (NFC), to name only a few possible air interfacetechnologies.

FIG. 1 also includes a portable telephone 130 that may be capable ofcommunicating over one or more of a cellular, PCS, Wi-Fi, or otherwireless communication network, and may have more limited yet sufficientfunctionality to interact with the computer system 150 than thatavailable from the PCs 110, 115 and the communication device 125.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates a kiosk device 135, which may permitusers in retail and public venues to engage in various activitiesdescribed herein, which may or may not access the computer system 150.The kiosk device 135 may be designed for indoor or outdoor use, and maybe linked to the e-commerce platform 150 via a communication link 137and Internet 105, as shown, or may communicate directly with thecomputer system 150 using any other suitable wired or wireless means.The kiosk 135 may have functionality that is equivalent, greater than,or less than the personal computers 110, 115, the communications device125, and the cellular telephone 130.

The illustration of FIG. 1 also shows a business establishment 160 thatmay, for example, be a “brick-and-mortar” business associated with theoperator or sponsor of the computer system 150. The businessestablishment 160 may include a kiosk 164 that may support access to thecomputer system 150 from the business establishment 160, for those usersthat are located within or outside of the business establishment 160.The illustration of FIG. 1 also includes a communication device 162 thatmay belong to, or be loaned to a customer of or visitor to the businessestablishment 160, permitting the customer/visitor to, for example,entertain themselves by send and receive messages or participate invarious activities such as, by way of example and not limitation, singleor multi-user activities/games such as, for example, education andgaming, and many others. Users of communication devices within thebusiness establishment 160 such as, for example, the communicationdevice 162 and the kiosk 164 may be enabled to communicate with eachother and the computer system 150 via the Internet 105 and thecommunication link 167, which may be, for example, any suitablecombination of wired and/or wireless communication technologies.

In addition, the system 100 of FIG. 1 includes an application/web server170 that may, for example, be operated by a third-party provider ofapplications selectable by users of the computer system 150, and thatmay be arranged to interact with elements of the computer system 150, asdescribed more fully below.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, a device suchas, for example, the computer system 150 or user communication device125 may be used to create an avatar and/or an associated animatedsequence from one or more still image(s) as described herein. Somerepresentative embodiments of the present invention may use suitablehardware, software, and/or logic circuitry to implement objectrecognizers that identify or recognize in composite images portions ofobjects or living beings such as, by way of example and not limitation,a human being, an animal such as, for example, a dog, cat, or horse, orobjects such as a car/motorcycle. In such a representative embodiment,an object recognizer to be associated with a particular portion of animage (an “image patch”) of an object or living being (e.g., a humanbeing) may be trained using a set of image patches that have the samelocal configuration of “keypoints” such as, for an example of a humanbeing, the eyes, nose, shoulders, hips, etc., and use them as positivetraining examples. A representative embodiment of the present inventionemploys a database of recognizable objects defined in part, in terms ofsuch “keypoints.” However, in order to animate portions of an image thathave been recognized, a representative embodiment of the presentinvention employs additional information about the location(s) ofunderlying anatomical feature(s) of the portion of the recognized objector living being. Such information may, for example, be in the form ofreference models of various objects or living beings such as, by way ofexample and not limitation, humans, dogs, cats, horses, and cars. Suchreference models may include, by way of example and not limitation,information identifying the location of points within the referencemodel that correspond to keypoints of image portions recognized usingany of a number of object recognition approaches. Such a reference modelmay then be used as a framework onto which portions of the source imageassociated with recognized image portions (e.g., recognized body parts)are texture mapped to form a moveable model, in creating an animation ofthe recognized image portions.

It should be noted that the discussion that follows describes, by way ofexample and not limitation, the creation of an avatar or an animatedsequence using, in part, a particular object recognition tool in theform of a “poselet.” Further information about the use of “poselets” maybe found, for example, in a PhD dissertation submitted by LubomirBourdev at the University of California at Berkeley in Spring of 2011,the complete subject matter of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference, in its entirety. The reference to the use of “poselets” inthe illustrative examples that follow does not necessarily represent aspecific limitation of the present invention, unless explicitly recitedin the claims, as the inventive concepts described herein may use otherapproaches to, for example, segment images, recognize objects or bodyparts, and extract image portions to be used in the creation of anavatar or an associated animated sequence in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention. Further, arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may, for example, usea number of different techniques, in combination (i.e., “boosting”), inseries or in parallel, where in some representative embodiments, resultsfrom each of the algorithms may be weighted to determine the outcome, toimprove the accuracy, quality, or speed of the image analysis, enablingthe creation of an avatar or animated sequence of higher quality in ashortened amount of time, and or adjusted to run satisfactorily onplatforms having various levels, or limited, computing resources (e.g.,ranging from desktop personal computers down to handheld computers, gamesystems, and smart phones).

For example, image segmentation and object recognition may also be doneusing an approach based on what are referred to as “textons,” in placeof or in addition to the use of algorithms for the recognition of“poselets”. Such an approach may, for example, use the MicrosoftResearch Cambridge (MSRC) image database to train object class models.The MSRC database is composed of 591 photographs of 21 object classes.Additional information about the MSRC image database may be found athttp://research.microsoft.com/vision/cambridge/recognition/. Additionalinformation about the concept of a “texton” may be found, for example,in “Textons, the elements of texture perception, and their interactions”by B. Julesz, Nature, 290(5802):91-97, March 1981, in “Contour andTexture Analysis for Image Segmentation” by Malik, et al., InternationalJournal of Computer Vision, 43(1):7-27, June 2001, and in “TextonBoostfor Image Understanding: Multi-Class Object Recognition and Segmentationby Jointly Modeling Texture, Layout, and Context” by J. Shotton, J.Winn, C. Rother, and A. Criminisi, International Journal of ComputerVision, Springer Verlag, January 2009, the complete subject matter ofeach of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in itsrespective entirety.

To illustrate, by way of example and not limitation, in somerepresentative embodiments of the present invention, a first approachmay be used to perform object recognition and image segmentation, and asecond approach may then be used upon the image data of a recognizedobject (e.g., a human), to more effectively recognize various imagesub-portions known to be part of the object identified by the use of thefirst approach.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, an objectrecognition algorithm for recognizing a particular portion of an objector living being may maintain information that identifies other portionsof the object or living being that are adjacent to the particularportion in the anatomy of the object or living being of interest, andmay include identified reference points (e.g., relative to “keypoints”)and parameters for the underlying skeletal features that may definedimensions of features (e.g., in a human, a femur or a tibia), ordefine, limit or constrain motion of the underlying skeletalfeatures/parts relative to one another (e.g., a knee joint or an elbowjoint) of the object or living being of interest.

For example, in one representative embodiment of the present invention,a set of image recognizers may be trained for recognition of parts of aliving being such as, for example, a human being, or parts of inanimateobjects such as, for example, a bicycle or a car. Each image recognizermay be associated with information identifying the location(s) ofunderlying features of the portion of the human skeleton (e.g., thebones and joints) or object (e.g., a axel of a wheel, the post of a setof handlebars, or the post of a bicycle seat) within the boundaries ofthe portion of the human body/object that the image recognizer has beendesigned or trained to recognize. The underlying features may be definedin terms of, by way of example for a human being and not limitation, theendpoints of skeletal elements, the location(s) of joints, and/or othersuitable reference points of particular body parts such as, for example,the endpoint(s) of the bone(s) of an upper arm, a lower arm, a finger, alower leg, or an upper leg, and the location(s) of the joint(s) thatinterconnect those body parts. The information identifying thelocation(s) of underlying features of the portion of the human skeletonassociated with each recognized image portion may, for example,correspond to reference points/locations of a movable model, to permitmapping of portions of the source image to the surface of the movablemodel.

The positional relationships of the various portions of the object orliving being to be recognized may be defined. For example, an objectrecognizer that is trained to recognize an image portion comprising aparticular view of a left elbow, a portion of the associated upper leftarm, and a portion of the associated lower left arm may be implemented.The object recognizer trained to recognize an image portion comprising asimilar view of a portion of the lower left arm and associated left handmay also be implemented. The physical relationship of the parts of thehuman body that those object recognizers are trained to recognize may bedefined (e.g., in terms of relative locations of keypoints), such thatwhen an object recognizer recognizes a first body part in an image, afinite number of locations of the reference points of other nearby oradjacent body parts may be estimated based on the known relationship(s)of the portions of the human body that correspond to the recognizedfirst body part. By using the known positional relationships of theadjacent image portions recognized by an image recognizer, and thefeatures (e.g., dimensions and interconnections or joints) of theunderlying skeletal parts or elements, a representative embodiment ofthe present invention may then apply a user-selected sequence of motion,described by what is referred to herein as a “motion template,” todefine the motion of particular skeletal features of the object orliving being of interest (e.g., reference points for features of thehands, elbows, knees, and/or feet of a human being, the pedals andwheels of a bicycle). For example, a motion template in somerepresentative embodiments of the present invention may comprise a timeordered series of magnitude and direction information in two or threedimensions, for each of the specific reference points of the componentsof the object or living being to be animated. When combined with thedefined relationships of anatomical reference points and theinterconnection of skeletal parts at, for example, the joints, themotion of the underlying features of the skeleton of the living being ofinterest may be defined. Using the motion of the reference points of theunderlying skeletal features, the motion of the portion of the extractedimage of the object or living being of interest may then be determined.

In order to improve the appearance of the resulting animated images, arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may match and/orblend visual features (e.g., texture information related to fabricpattern, color boundaries, shading, fabric creases) of the adjacentanimated image portions, by matching the visual feature(s) in the imageportions corresponding to adjacent recognized image portions. Forexample, additional image details such as creases or folds (e.g.,created by shading or shadowing in the image) in the fabric of clothingor the skin of the person of interest may be generated based upon therelative motion of underlying skeletal features, and thereforecorresponding to the motion of the corresponding parts of the body ofthe object or living being of interest. For example, whether the arm isclothed (i.e. person wearing a shirt) or bare, a crease typically formsin the fabric of a shirt or blouse, or in the skin on the inside of theelbow joint of a human being when the lower and upper portions of an armare moved from a straightened position to a bent position. While thelighting conditions may change the exact appearance, crease(s) orfold(s) still form a visual artifact that may be approximated when therelative positions of the underlying skeletal features (e.g., the upperand lower arms at the elbow joint) are in certain known relationships.Mapping of texture information from recognized portions of a sourceimage to a corresponding portion of the surface contour of a 3D model ofan anatomically typical object or living being of interest permits thegeneration of an avatar and/or animated sequence with realistic theappearance.

A representative embodiment of the present invention may create anavatar by mapping texture information extracted from recognized portionsof one or more image(s) of an object or living being to be represented,onto a generic or “average” 2D or 3D model of the object or living beingto be represented. In one representative embodiment, for example,creation of a facial portion of an avatar may use a morphable 3D facemodel that is a multidimensional 3D morphing function based on a linearcombination of a large number of actual 3D scans of human faces. Themorphable 3D model may be automatically matched/adjusted to informationderived from a 2D image selected by an end-user. Although otherapproaches may be employed, an example of one suitable technique using a3D model may be found in “A Morphable Model for the Synthesis of 3DFaces” by Volker Blanz and Thomas Vetter of the Max Planck Institut furBologische Kybernetik, available at<http://gravis.cs.unibas.ch/Sigg99.html>, the complete subject matter ofwhich is hereby incorporate herein by reference in its entirety. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, such an approach maybe extended as described above for use in creating a tunable, meshed, 3Dmodel representing other portions or the entirety of a human body, inwhich shape and texture vectors may be modified according to multipleparameters including, by way of example and not limitation, weight,emotion, behavior or activity, and gender, enabling the creation of a 3Dmovable model for an avatar that may be rendered for viewing from anyangle.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, an end-user maymodify shape and/or texture vectors, or any other suitable parameters,to create an avatar from a 3D model that is a faithful or “true”representation of aspects of an original 2D image, or may create anavatar from a 3D model in which certain properties or attributes of theavatar are modified from the original 2D image in certain prescribed orpreset ways, which may be user definable. In another representativeembodiment of the present invention, a 2D model may be used. Forinstance, by way of example and not limitation, the user may be enabledto select from one of a number of preset or predefined, orend-user-defined modifications that may include, by way of example andnot limitation, a fun-house mirror face, an angry face, and a smilingface. In some representative embodiments of the present invention, thesystem may include any functionality needed for the end-user to createnew instances, or modify existing instances of 2D or 3D shape andtexture information to produce things/beings of their own creation, tobe included with shape and texture information scanned from similarobjects or live subjects, and transformed into the vector spacerepresentation mentioned above. In this way, a representative embodimentof the present invention allows an end-user to later adjust or tune the2D or 3D model to create an avatar having unusual features not presentin human subjects (e.g., space aliens or never-before-seen animals andplants, and other variations).

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, animation ofthe resulting 2D or 3D model according to user-selected or customizedmotion information (e.g., a user-selected or user-customized motiontemplate) may then be used in rendering image information for displayvia a 2D or 3D medium such as, for example, a mobile or other devicehaving a 2D or 3D-capable display. Such a motion template may comprise,by way of example and not limitation, a time ordered list of distancevectors in two-space or three-space for each reference point in amovable model and/or formula for calculation of the position of each ofone or more reference points in a movable model based on time.

Further, a representative embodiment of the presented invention mayderive emotion/mood information. Such emotion/mood information may bederived, for example, from an analysis of user responses tosystem-generated questions, analysis of captured images of the user'sface or body (e.g., details of the eyes and mouth, or body pose), orsystem analysis (e.g., using keyword frequency or natural languageanalysis) of various news items from information sources), which may beused to adjust/tune the facial features/pose of the avatar to reflectthe emotion/mood of the user. A system in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may also providecontrols for the end-user to manually adjust various parameters to“touch-up” the appearance of the avatar to their liking.

In some representative embodiments of the present invention, thealgorithms used for the generation of an avatar and/or an animatedsequence from a still image may be user-adjustable according to the age,sophistication, taste, or whim of the user. For example, within thecapabilities of a particular implementation of the present invention,the algorithms may be adjusted by the user to produce a less accuraterepresentation of the appearance of the animated figure from the stillimage of a subject extracted from a composite image, in order to reducethe complexity of the computations, the demand on computationalresources used, and the time needed to generate the animation. Forexample, one user may choose to have a representative embodiment of thepresent invention more quickly generate an animated sequence thatappears to have been assembled from portions simply cut from a 2D imagewithout, for example, the blending of shades or color or nuances oflighting, the matching of fabric patterns, and the recognition oraddition of crease or folds due to motion, using the computing resourcesof a smart phone, a laptop, or a tablet computer. Another user, however,having a more powerful computing platform on which the animation may begenerated and displayed, or for whom more accurate images are important,may choose a higher level of accuracy of representation. A higher levelof accuracy of representation may take more time to produce, consumemore memory and processor resources during generation of the animatedsequence, and may therefore require a computing platform that cannot becarried on the person of the user, but may instead be accomplished bythe mobile computing platform in conjunction with remote cloud computingresources. Further, the user may choose to adjust operating parametersto permit a representative embodiment of the present invention todisplay an animated sequence as it is rendered from the movable model,in which the user is directing the motion using an input device, ratherthan generating the animation using a motion template.

In view of the number of devices such as, for example, cell phones,smart phones, web cameras, net book/tablet/laptop/desktop computers, andhandheld gaming platforms that now contain high quality imaging devices,a large volume of digital images, both single still images and as framesfrom motion video, are currently stored either on their respectivedevices, backed up and synced with other devices, and/or “in the cloud”and are available to a large portion of the population.

The stored image information likely includes a wide variety ofarrangement/positions of objects or living beings of interest, offeringthe opportunity to select from the available image data, those imagesthat produce more favorable results in the use of, by way of example andnot limitation, a particular object recognition approach and variousimage extraction techniques, than may be seen in particular applicationsof those technologies such as, for example, those in which the subjectis positioned in a manner for which the underlying algorithms do notperform well (e.g., when seated).

In some representative embodiments of the present invention, the usermay be requested to aid the algorithms for object recognition and/orextraction of an image of an object or living being (e.g. their ownimage) from a composite image. This may occur, for example, for imagesthat are “low quality” due to, by way of example and not limitation,adverse lighting conditions during image capture, similarity in thecolor of the image of the object or living being of interest and otherobjects in the composite image, and occlusion of or by other objects orliving beings. Such aid may take the form of a request that the usertrace/circumscribe the object or living being of interest in thecomposite image, or point (e.g., using a stylus or finger on atouch-sensitive screen, or using an on-screen cursor controlled by ajoystick, trackball, touchpad, or mouse) to select/click to identifyspecified locations on the image of the object or living being ofinterest, or on parts of surrounding background objects or living beings(e.g., the skin or clothing of another person, a point on a wall orfloor, the fabric of the chair in which their image is seated). In thismanner, additional information may be gathered to allow the moreefficient or effective analysis of the composite image.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, a set of motiontemplates may be defined, where each motion template describes thetypical movement of a selected set of anatomical features or referencepoints for an object or living being such as, for example, a human oranimal, while the object or living being is engaged in a particularactivity involving motion of the set of anatomical features such as, forexample, walking, running, climbing, clapping, swimming, and flying, toname just a few. A motion template may, for example, be defined as a setof relative measurements of the movement of particular features such as,for example, the joints or endpoints of parts of the body of a livingbeing like a human being, for example. Information for such motiontemplates may be derived from motions studies of the objects or livingbeings for which motion templates are desired.

It should be noted that although representative embodiments of thepresent invention are described with respect to the use of a particularexample approach in recognizing and segmenting portions of an image andthe underlying features that allow the generation of animated sequences,the use of any particular object recognition technique does notnecessarily represent a specific limitation of the present invention, asother approaches to identify image features, body parts, and theassociated underlying anatomical structure for animation may beemployed, without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

In some representative embodiments of the present invention, theanalysis may be performed on the composite image containing the objector living being of interest and may act to identify the portions of thecomposite image that belong to the object or living being of interest.In other representative embodiments of the present invention, theanalysis may be applied to a portion of the composite image followingaid in identification of the boundary of the object or living being ofinterest by the user, as previously described, or by a computeralgorithm that may be used to segment the composite image to reduce theamount of image data to be analyzed by a later applied step/algorithm.

To further illustrate some of the features of a representativeembodiment of the present invention, a non-limiting example is nowprovided for a system for producing an avatar and/or animated sequencein accordance with the present invention. Having such a system at theirdisposal, a person (e.g., a boy, girl, man, or woman) may decide thatthey wish to play a game with a friend at a location remote from theirown, using a personal computer with display, an Internet connection, anda video camera such as, for example, a “web cam.” The game being playedmay, for example, be a card game involving two or more players, where alive image of each player appears in a portion of each player's display,showing each player with playing cards in their hands. The exact natureof the game and the players is not important. Let us assume that one ofthe players is not feeling well and has a cold or other illness, andthat they would prefer not to have a picture of how they look and feelsent to the other players. Using a representative embodiment of thepresent invention, the player who is ill may choose to instead have anavatar created for them to represent them on the displays viewed by theother players. The player that is ill may begin by selecting a stillimage, or a frame from a video in which they appear, as the “compositeimage” described above, to be used in generating their avatar. Thecomposite image used may have been previously stored, by way of exampleand not limitation, on their personal computer, on a digital camera or asmart phone, or on a remote, cloud-based image storage system such asPhoto Stream from Apple Inc., or SkyDrive®, developed by MicrosoftCorporation.

Once the player selects a suitable composite image in which they appear,a representative embodiment of the present invention may request theplayer to identify the selected composite image to the system, and toselect the type of object or living being that the system is to animate.In the present example, the thing of interest in the composite image isa human being. In one representative embodiment of the presentinvention, the system may determine the boundaries of the player in theselected composite image by analyzing the composite image andidentifying/recognizing portions of the player's body using, forexample, an appropriate object recognition approach, augmented asdescribed above. For example, the system may have a number of objectrecognizers available for a number of different objects or living beingsincluding, by way of example and not limitation, human beings, dogs,cats, horses, birds, cars, and bicycles. To further identify the mostappropriate object recognizer to use in the analysis of an image of theuser, the user may be requested to identify one or more characteristicabout themselves such as, for example, their sex and their age. In somerepresentative embodiments of the present invention, the player that isill may also be requested to identify the lighting conditions of theimage (e.g., indoor or outdoor, and dim lighting, normal lighting, orbright sunlight), and whether they are standing or seated in theselected composite image. Following analysis, the system may visuallyidentify to the player on a display, the composite image being analyzed,with those portions of the composite image corresponding to recognizedobjects outlined, boxed, or conspicuously colored, to show the portionsof the composite image recognized by the analysis.

Continuing with the present illustrative example, once portions of theselected composite image have been recognized, the player may be askedto select a motion template to be used in animating the avatar. Forexample, a representative embodiment of the present invention may have anumber of motion templates to use in animating an avatar such as, by wayof example and not limitation, motion templates suitable for use increating animations that include walking, running, galloping, climbing,clapping, swimming, flying, and for this example, various hand andfinger movements that may be used while playing cards. One or morethresholds or conditions may be applied to determine whether anappropriate/sufficient collection body parts or image portions have beenrecognized in the composite picture to enable the generation of theavatar for the requested animation. For example, if a particular minimumset of body parts that includes the reference points needed foranimation of the galloping of a horse have not been recognized in acomposite image including a horse, a representative embodiment of thepresent invention may inform the user that the selected animation (i.e.,galloping of a horse) cannot be created. In such an instance, the usermay be requested to aid the system in identifying the image portionsneeded to create the avatar. In the present example, recognition ofimage portions corresponding to the head, upper body, arms, hands, andfingers may be sufficient to create an avatar able to present themovements of a person involved in playing cards. In a representativeembodiment of the present invention, each recognized image portionhaving associated reference points to be animated by a particular motiontemplate may have an associated parameter that indicates the importanceof recognition of the corresponding portions of the body of the objector living being of interest for that motion template, and the animationaccording to the motion template may not be created if the importance ofrecognition of a certain body part is above a particular threshold.

Once recognition of a sufficient collection of body parts has occurred,a representative embodiment of the present invention may animate therecognized portions of the composite image according to the motion ofthe reference points identified in the motion template that correspondto the reference points of the underlying structural elements (e.g.,skeletal parts) for the recognized body parts. For example, an objectrecognizer may be employed that is trained to recognize, for example ina human being, a lower portion of the left upper arm, the left elbow,and an upper portion of the lower left arm. The locations of the ends ofthe underlying bones and the common joint (i.e., the elbow joint) may bedefined as reference points associated with the recognized body parts(e.g., relative to a reference point or keypoint of the recognized bodyparts). Additional information related to, for example, anatomicallyadjacent body parts may also be available. In a representativeembodiment of the present invention, the texture information and/orother information for the recognized portion of the composite image maybe mapped onto a surface of a movable model animated according to themotion defined by corresponding reference points of a motion templatefor a human being while, for this example, dealing a card. By animatingeach portion of the movable model according to the motion of thereference points for the recognized body part as defined by theuser-selected motion template, a collection of portions of the compositeimage corresponding to the collection of recognized body parts may beanimated. Although, in some representative embodiments of the presentinvention, this approach may not result in an animation that may bemistaken for the actual player, the matching of visual details (e.g.,fabric patterns, colors, shading, creases due to motion, and otherfeatures) may be further optimized, and may be suitable as described foruse in children's games, cartoon-like sequences, and other forms ofentertainment. In other representative embodiments of the presentinvention, the animation may be quite good.

In some representative embodiments of the present invention, the imageof the object or living being to be animated may first be extracted fromthe composite image using a first object recognition or imagesegmentation technique, before analysis using a second objectrecognition or image segmentation technique is performed. As previouslydiscussed above, in some representative embodiments of the presentinvention, a composite image may first be processed using an algorithmsuch as, by way of example and not limitation, a “texton”-based approachto recognize objects in the image and to segment the image, for furtherprocessing using an algorithm such as, by way of example and notlimitation, that of a “poselet”-based approach. In such an embodiment,object recognition and extraction of the object or living being to beanimated from the composite image and image segmentation may improve thelikelihood of success of the analysis and speed of generation of theanimation, reducing the complexity of the problem at hand by limitingthe amount of the image content of the composite image that must beprocessed.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary composite image 200 of a group of fourindividuals that a user may wish to employ as a source image to be usedin the creation of an avatar and/or an animated sequence, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present invention. Although thecomposite image 200 has a relatively uniform background, this is forreasons of simplicity and clarity of illustration, and does notnecessarily represent a specific limitation of the present invention.The four individuals in the composite image 200 do exhibit someocclusion.

FIG. 3 shows a composite image 300 that may, for example correspond tothe composite image 200 of FIG. 2, in which bounding boxes 310, 320,330, 340 are displayed that identify four sub-images that have beenrecognized or interpreted as a human being by an image segmentation orobject recognition algorithm, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present invention. The object recognition or imagesegmentation technique employed may be any of a number of other suitableapproaches known in the art, used separately and/or in combination, aspreviously described. Occlusion of two of the four individuals uponothers, and of objects upon the illustrated individuals may representsituations where a representative embodiment of the present inventionmay request user intervention, to aid in identification of a boundaryseparating each image portion of a human being from another, or thebackground. The result of image segmentation such as that illustrated inFIG. 3 results in the identification of four sub-images that may be ofinterest to the user in creating a desired avatar and/or animatedsequence.

FIG. 4 shows an image 400 that may correspond, for example, to thesub-image contained within the bounding box 330 of FIG. 3, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present invention. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, a number of bounding boxes 410, 420, 430, 440,450, 460, 470 have been displayed on the image 400 to illustrate therecognition or interpretation of portions of the image 400 by a secondalgorithm designed to recognize portions of the body of a human being.It should be noted that the bounding boxes 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460470 of FIG. 4 are merely one visual method of indicating recognition orinterpretation of portions of an image. It should further be noted that,for reasons of simplicity and clarity, the illustration of FIG. 4 showsbounding boxes for only a few of the parts of the body that may berecognized by a representative embodiment of the present invention. Thebounding box 410 may be displayed in response to, for example,identification or recognition by an object recognizer trained torecognize the head of a human being. A previously described, an objectrecognition algorithm may be employed that may recognize variousdifferent views of the same portion or part of an object or livingbeing. In a similar fashion, the bounding box 420 may be displayed inresponse to recognition of the portion of a human being including theleft shoulder and upper left arm, and the bounding box 430 may bedisplayed in response to recognition of a portion of a human bodyincluding the lower portion of the upper left arm, the left elbow, andthe upper portion of the lower left arm. The bounding box 440 may bedisplayed in response to recognition of a portion of a human bodyincluding the left hand and lower portion of the lower left arm, and thebounding box 455 may be displayed in response to recognition of aportion of a human body including the lower portion of thigh, the leftknee, and the upper portion of the left calf. Finally, the bonding boxes460, 470 may be displayed in response to recognition of, respectively, aleft foot and ankle, and a right foot and ankle.

The illustration of FIG. 4 also shows a respective single referencepoint 415, 425, 435, 445, 455, 465, 475 for each of the bounding boxes410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470. The reference points 415, 425, 435,445, 455, 465, 475 represent the approximate location of a feature ofthe underlying anatomical structure of the object or living being (i.e.,in this example, a human being) to be animated, and correspond tomatching reference points of movable model onto which textureinformation from the recognized portions of the image 400.

FIG. 5 shows an illustration of a meshed polygon model 500 of a humanbeing showing the locations of reference points 515, 525, 535, 545, 555,565, 575 that may correspond respectively to, for example, the referencepoints 415, 425, 435, 445, 455, 465, 475 of the recognized objectsrepresented by the bounding boxes 410, 420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470illustrated in FIG. 4, in accordance with a representative embodiment ofthe present invention. Although not shown in the illustration of FIG. 5for reasons of clarity, texture information and/or other informationtaken from portions of the image 400 of FIG. 4 corresponding to therecognized body part images of the bounding boxes 410, 420, 430, 440,450, 460, 470 may be mapped to the surfaces of the correspondingportions of meshed polygon model 500, creating an avatar of the objector living being depicted in the image 400 of FIG. 4. It should furtherbe noted that, for reasons of simplicity and clarity, the illustrationof FIG. 5 shows only a subset of the reference points of the model thatmay be used by a representative embodiment of the present invention.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, as discussedabove, motion information corresponding to each of the references points515, 525, 535, 545, 555, 565, 575 taken from a motion template selectedby a user of a representative embodiment of the present invention may beused to define movement (i.e., changes in position/pose) of thosereference points of the meshed polygon model 500, thereby enablingrendering, at system or user-selected intervals of motion, of one ormore images of an animation of the model 500, and generating an animatedsequence of an avatar. The animated sequence of the avatar may then becomposited with a system or user-selected background to create ananimated composite image. A similar approach may be employed in thecreation of avatars and/or animated sequences of other objects or livingbeings such as, for example, an animal such as a dog, cat, or horse, oran object such as, for example, a bicycle, car, locomotive, or airplane.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the system mayuse the available information about an object or living being ofinterest and attempt to recognize and identify to the user (e.g., bydisplaying a bounding outline, border, or bounding box) the objects orliving beings which the system has recognized in an image. With someimages (e.g., due to similarity of color content, lighting conditions,and occlusion of portions of the object or living being of interest byother objects or living beings in the selected image), the system may beunable to recognize in the image a sufficient amount of the image asbelonging to one or more particular objects or living beings known tothe system. In such instances, the system may prompt the user toindicate (e.g., using a cursor controlled by a touch-sensitive surfaceor display, a track ball, joystick, or a mouse) the objects or livingbeings of interest to the user. The user may then simply place a cursoron the object or living being of interest and click/select, draw a linethat encloses the object or thing of interest, or trace the boundarythat separates the object or living being of interest from thebackground. The image of the object or living being of interest may thenbe extracted from the composite image.

A representative embodiment of the present invention may then analyzethe extracted image and identify particular portions of the image, whereeach identified portion has associated with it, information identifyingunderlying features of the portion of the skeleton or structure (e.g.,the bones and joints, structural elements and points at which relativemotion of the structural elements can occur) within theidentified/recognized(?) boundaries of the particular portion of theimage (e.g., the portion identified by the object recognizer). Forexample, the system presently discussed may analyze the selected imageand recognize portions of the upper body of the user, and in particular,may recognize, for example, the head and neck; each shoulder and aportion of the respective upper arm; a remaining portion of each upperarm, respective elbow, and a portion of the respective lower arm, andremaining portion of each lower arm and respective hand.

It should be noted that the example presented above is for purposes ofillustration, and does not necessarily represent specific limitations ofthe present invention, unless recited by the claims, and that ananimated sequence that comprises multiple avatars may be created usingthe described techniques. For example, image information for variousassortments of people, pets, and object(s) may be extracted from one ormore still images and/or video content, and may be animated by like ordifferent motion information to create an animated sequence.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 illustrating an exemplary method of operatinga system for creating an animated sequence from a still image, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.The following description of the method of FIG. 6 may make reference tothe elements of FIG. 1. The method of FIG. 6 begins when a user wishesto create an animation using their own image. At block 605, the user mayidentify a stored composite image they wish to use, or may ask a systemsuch as the PCs 110, 115 or communication device 125 of FIG. 1 tocapture an image of their own face or that includes their own face, andto search local and/or external storage for stored composite image(s) inwhich the captured image appears, or those associated with their name orother information that identifies them. The search may include, forexample, the storage devices of PCs 110,115, the memory of the usercommunication device 125, images stored on the computer system 150, orthose images available on or via the web server 170. The user may thenchoose from the retrieved composite image(s) to select a composite imageto be used in creating the animation.

Next, at block 610, the user may choose a form of animation to becreated. For example, the user may wish to be animated as climbing amountain or up a sheer rock cliff, paddling a canoe, riding a bicycle,walking up the side of the Eiffel Tower, riding a bike on the Tour deFrance, to name only a few activities. Then, at block 615, the user maychoose the background to be used for the animation. Suitable backgroundsmay reside on the storage and memory identified above, which may besearched based on identified locations (e.g., Mt. Everest, Red Square,The Indianapolis Motor Speedway) or by one or more descriptivecharacteristics (e.g., a cliff, a river, a skyscraper, a street, a baretree).

At block 620, a system in accordance with the present invention thenanalyzes the composite image submitted by the user, to recognize andextract portions of the user image of composite image needed for thechosen animation. The analysis may be performed in the device employedby the user to interface with the system such as, for example, apersonal computer such as a tablet computer, one of the PCs 110,115, orthe user communication device 125 of FIG. 1, it may be done at thecomputer system 150, or the task of analysis may be shared across two ormore elements of the system of FIG. 1 including remote computingresources accessed via web or other communication method. Next, at block625, elements of the system (e.g., the system 100 of FIG. 1) may animatethe extracted portions of composite image according to the user chosenform of animation, as has been described in greater detail above. Again,the animation may be performed by a personal computer such as a tabletcomputer, one of the PCs 110,115, or the user communication device 125of FIG. 1, it may be done at the computer system 150, or the task may beshared across two or more elements of FIG. 1, including remote computingresources. Finally, the method of FIG. 6 continues at block 630, atwhich the system generates the desired animated sequence by compositinganimation of the extracted portions of the composite image selected bythe user, with the chosen background scene.

Additional aspects of a representative embodiment of the presentinvention may be seen in a system that continuously monitors varioussources of news and social traffic including, for example, news sources(e.g., Associated Press (AP), Reuters), social media (e.g., Twitter®,Facebook®), RSS (rich site summary) newsfeeds, blogs (e.g., HuffingtonPost), news websites (e.g., newspaper and television network web sites),and bulletin boards, to determine currently trending topics using any ofa number of known approaches. Depending on the nature and subject areaof the currently trending topics (e.g., entertainment, weather, sports,finance, crime, housing, health and medical), the system may gatherpictures attached to or associated with textual content about or relatedto certain trending topics. Such information may be analyzed andclassified by the system to determine subject matter, level ofimportance and timeliness, global/local relevance, and mood (e.g.,“light”, uplifting, happy, financial, aggression, conflict,social/celebrity/public figure, government, severe weather/naturaldisaster, etc.), using textual content and/or analysis of accompanyingimages and/or image captions.

A representative embodiment, using the gathered information abouttrending topics may then select one or more questions that it presentsto a user of the system via a visual display of text, or playing ofaudio (e.g., stored or computer-generated speech). For example, on a dayon which the top trending topics relate to military conflict and/or war,the system may ask the user “Do you feel like fighting today?”, while ona day on which the trending topics relate to lighter, more pleasantworld events, the system may ask “Are you feeling happy today?”. If atrending topic relates to a particular celebrity, the system may ask“Would you like hang out with <celebrity name> today?”. The system mayask a series of questions based on responses to earlier questions, tofurther ascertain the mood and/or interests of the user.

In one representative embodiment of the present invention, the user mayrespond to each posed question using, for example, text at a keyboard orby, by way of illustration and not limitation, selecting a “Yes” or “No”answer or an answer to a multiple choice question on a screen, using amouse or touch-sensitive display. In another representative embodiment,the user may respond verbally, and their audio response may be capturedby a microphone integrated within or attached to the computer, smartphone, or other device that they are using. If the response is madeverbally, some representative embodiments of the present invention mayperform a “voice stress analysis” upon the user's audio response, todetermine the effects of the question(s) and the underlying emotions orgeneral emotional state that the user is feeling. In yet anotherrepresentative embodiment, the system may employ an imaging device tocapture a series of images of the end-user, and may analyze those imagesto determine the mood/emotion/feelings of the end-user. Such a series ofimages may be captured using a front or user-facing camera of anelectronic user device such as a smart phone or tablet computer atvarious times of use, such as following start up, or when surfingparticular web sites, or when the functionality for creating avatarsand/or animated sequences is activated for a session of use. The detailsof suitable algorithms for determining mood and emotion based on voicestress and image analysis of a human being are well known and beyond thescope of the present application, and the details of such algorithmswill not be discussed here. In a representative embodiment of thepresent invention, such information may then be used in the creation ofan avatar and/or animated sequence.

Based on the response of the user to the question(s) posed by thesystem, and in some cases their mood or emotional state, arepresentative embodiment of the present invention may retrieve one ormore images related to particular topics found to be trending topicsover the past hours, days, or weeks that relate to their answers. Forexample, if the most active topic of the gathered news relates to warand military conflict, and the user responded “Yes” when asked thequestion “Do you feel like fighting,” the system may create an avatar ofthe user (e.g., created as described above) and place it into a scenewith images of individuals taken from one or more images related to theareas of conflict (e.g., fighting in the Middle East, or civil riots inIndonesia). If, however, the most active topic of the gathered newsrelated to a happy social event of the British Royal Family, and theuser responded “Yes” when asked “Are you feeling happy today?” or “Wouldyou like to hang out with Princess Kate (Middleton) of the RoyalFamily?”, the system may create an avatar of the user and place it in ascene with images of Princess Kate and other members of the Royal Familytaken from gathered images of the happy social event of the Royals. In arepresentative embodiment of the present invention, the background imagemay, for example, be selected from one or more still images or videocontent identified during a search of sources on the Internet, or on thepersonal computer or handheld devices of the user or other suitablesources, based on tags attached to the images/video, orcaptions/sub-headers associated with the images/video. In addition,images and/or video content may be specifically created by a third partyfor the purpose of allowing users to choose to have their avatar takepart in an activity with various public personalities such as, forexample, a talk show or other activity in which the avatar of the userinteracts with (e.g., is interviewed by) an actual image or asystem-generated avatar of a well-known public figure/celebrity.

In some representative embodiments of the present invention, the mood ofthe user, as may be determined from user responses to questions posed bythe system, and/or by the results of a voice stress analysis performedon audio responses of the user, may be used in adjusting/modifyingaspects of an avatar of the user. For example, if the user of the systemhas indicated that they feel happy, the system may adjust facial detailsto show their avatar as smiling, and/or may adjust/select motioninformation used to animate the avatar to reflect the happy mood of theuser by, for example, showing the avatar posture as erect and movingbriskly. In contrast, if the user of the system has indicated that theyfeel sad, angry, aggressive, aspects of the avatar may beadjusted/selected to reflect appearance and/or behavior matching themood of the user (e.g., shoulders slumped and a sad face, and movingslowly, if the user is determined to be unhappy or sad).

The techniques described above may also be used in an educationalsetting. The use of online classes at vocational training schools,colleges, universities, adult high schools, and other educationalsettings is rapidly growing. Using the techniques for creating an avatarand/or an animated sequence described above, on online education systemmay create an avatar for each student, placing them in a virtual realitysetting of a classroom, with other course participants. The student maybe provided with a 360 degree view of the virtual classroom and theavatars of the other course participants, and may raise the hand oftheir avatar to ask a question using, for example, a mouse click, agesture on a touch-sensitive screen, or one or more characters on akeyboard. Participants may choose to have their avatars based on imagescaptured at the start or before the start of class, or may elect to havetheir avatar created from one or more previously stored imagesretrieved, as described above.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device 700that may correspond, for example, to electronic devices shown in FIG. 1,in accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention.The personal electronic device 700 may correspond to electronic userdevices such as, by way of example and not limitation, a smart phone, atablet computer, a cellular phone, a media player, a handheld personalcomputer, a laptop, a notebook computer, a netbook computer, a desktopcomputer, a television, or any other suitable electronic device havingthe functionality discussed herein.

As shown in FIG. 7, the personal electronic device 700 includes aprocessor 710, an RF transceiver A 702, an RF transceiver B 703, a wiredinterface 704, a display device 720, a user input device 730, an audiointerface 740, and a memory 750. The processor 710 may be, for example,a suitable microprocessor or microcomputer having sufficient computingpower to control the personal electronic device 700, and is operablycoupled to the RF transceiver A 702, the RF transceiver B 703, and thewired interface 704. The RF transceiver A 702 and RF transceiver B 703may comprise any necessary circuitry, logic, and software/firmware forwireless communication over any of, for example, the cellular,Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Zigbee, WiMAX, or anyother wireless network known now or in the future. The wired interface704 may comprise any necessary circuitry, logic, and software/firmwarefor wired communication over any of, for example, an Ethernet, UniversalSerial Bus, FireWire (IEEE 1394) or other wired networks known now or inthe future.

The processor 710 is also operably coupled to the memory 750, and may beused for non-transitory storage of executable program instructions,parameters, and data for any of the circuitry of the personal electronicdevice 700. The display device 720 is also operably coupled to theprocessor 710, and may comprise, for example, one or more LED, OLED,LCD, or other form of visual display capable of presenting text orgraphics, and may comprise any circuitry, logic, or software/firmware tosupport, for example, a graphical user interface (GUI). The user inputdevice 730 may comprise, for example, suitable switches, buttons, ortouch sensitive surfaces to enable user control and operation of thepersonal electronic device 700, and may comprise any necessarycircuitry, logic, and software/firmware to allow it to perform thosefunctions. In a representative embodiment of the present invention, theuser input device 730 may be a touch sensitive surface at the viewingside of the display device 720, enabling a user to use the touchsensitive surface of the display device to enter user inputs and respondto displayed information. The audio interface 740 comprise any necessarycircuitry, logic, and software to interface a microphone 705 and aspeaker 706 to the processor 710.

Aspect of a representative embodiment of the present invention may befound in a method of operating a system for creating an animatedsequence of images from one or more still images of an object or aliving being. Such a method may comprise extracting one or more portionsof an image of the object or the living being from the one or more stillimages, and applying the one or more portions of an image of the objector the living being to corresponding surface portions of a mathematicalmodel created using physical characteristics of a plurality of objectsor living beings like the object or the living being. The method mayalso comprise animating the mathematical model according to motioninformation selected by a user of the system, rendering one or moreimages from the mathematical model at corresponding positions of theanimation, and transmitting the one or more rendered images for display.The one or more still images may be retrieved from one or both of thesystem and a source external to the system, using matching of an imagecomprising the object or the living being.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the method mayalso comprise capturing a plurality of news items from two or more newssources, where each news item comprises text and image data, andclassifying each of the plurality of news items according to one or morecharacteristics. The method may further comprise determining one or moreof a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of a user of the system, andselecting a news item from the plurality of news items according to theone or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion. The text may comprisea description of an event represented by the image data, and the one ormore characteristics may be representative of the event or the one ormore characteristics may be representative of a feeling, a mood, or anemotion associated with the event. The one or more of a feeling, a mood,and an emotion of the user may be determined from one or both of tactualuser input and a facial image of the user.

In various representative embodiments of the present invention,determining the one or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of auser may comprise capturing one or more images of the user and analyzingthe one or more images of the user. Aspects of one or both of themathematical model and the animation may be modified according to theone or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of the user. Themodification may comprise one or both of morphing a facial feature andadjusting animation based on the one or more of a feeling, a mood, andan emotion, and the mathematical model may be a three dimensionalmathematical model. Rendering the one or more images from themathematical model may comprise combining the one or more renderedimages with image data of the selected news item.

Extracting may comprise segmenting each of the one or more still imagesto define one or more sub-images in which the object or the living beingappears, performing object recognition upon the one or more sub-imagesto identify the one or more portions of an image of the object or theliving being, and extracting image data of the one or more portions fromthe one or more sub-images. The user may be prompted to provideassistance in segmenting the one or more still images into the one ormore sub-images.

Further aspects of a representative embodiment of the present inventionmay be seen in a system for creating an animated sequence of images fromone or more still images of an object or a living being. Such a systemmay comprise at least one processor communicatively coupled to a displaydevice, where the at least one processor is operable to, at least,extract one or more portions of an image of the object or the livingbeing from the one or more still images, and apply the one or moreportions of an image of the object or the living being to correspondingsurface portions of a mathematical model created using physicalcharacteristics of a plurality of objects or living beings like theobject or the living being. The at least one processor may also beoperable to animate the mathematical model according to motioninformation selected by a user of the system, to render one or moreimages from the mathematical model at corresponding positions of theanimation, and transmit the one or more rendered images to the displaydevice.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the at leastone processor may be operable to, at least, determine one or more of afeeling, a mood, and an emotion of a user by capturing a plurality ofimages of the user and analyzing the plurality of images, and adjust aportion of the mathematical model according to the one or more of afeeling, a mood, and an emotion of the user. Extracting one or moreportions of an image of the object or the living being from the one ormore still images may comprise recognizing an image of the object or theliving being of a first size, using a first algorithm, and recognizingan image portion of a second size less than the first size in therecognized image of the object or the living being, using a secondalgorithm. The animation of the mathematical model may be adjustedaccording to one or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of theuser.

Additional aspects of a representative embodiment of the presentinvention may be observed in a non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving stored thereon a plurality of codes sections, each code sectioncomprising executable instructions. The plurality of code sections maycreate an animated sequence of images from one or more still images ofan object or a living being by, at least, extracting one or moreportions of an image of the object or the living being from the one ormore still images, and applying the one or more portions of an image ofthe object or the living being to corresponding surface portions of amathematical model created using physical characteristics of a pluralityof objects or living beings like the object or the living being. Inaddition, the plurality of code sections may create the animatedsequence by animating the mathematical model according to motioninformation selected by a user of the system, rendering one or moreimages from the mathematical model at corresponding positions of theanimation, and transmitting the one or more rendered images to a displaydevice.

The plurality of code sections may create an animated sequence of imagesfrom one or more still images of an object or a living being by, atleast, determining one or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of auser by analyzing a response of the user, and adjusting the animationaccording to the one or more of a feeling, a mood, and an emotion of theuser. The response of the user may be spoken, and the analyzing maycomprise voice stress analysis.

Although devices, methods, and systems according to the presentinvention may have been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form setforth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover suchalternative, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonablyincluded within the scope of the invention as defined by this disclosureand appended diagrams.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1-21. (canceled)
 22. A method comprising: monitoring information received from one or more sources, wherein the one or more sources comprise one or both of a social media website and a news website; determining a common theme according to the information received from the sources; gathering a plurality of images according to the common theme; determining characteristics according to the plurality of images; receiving an input from an end-user; generating an avatar depicting an object; and generating a background for the avatar, wherein the background comprises one or more images selected from the plurality of images according to the input from the end-user and according to one or more of the characteristics.
 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the characteristics comprise one or more of a subject matter, a level of importance, a timeliness, and a classification of geographic relevance.
 24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the method comprises: adjusting one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar according to the input from the end-user.
 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein adjusting one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar comprises selecting a motion template for animating the avatar.
 26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the method comprises: prompting the end-user to interactively identify segments of the one or more images as one or more sub-images.
 27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the method comprises: associating an image selected by the end-user with one or more aspects of the object, wherein the one or more aspects of the object are associated with reference parameters of a structural feature of the object, and wherein the reference parameters define one or more of a location of motion, a dimension of motion, and a constraint upon motion; applying the image selected by the end-user to a model, wherein the model comprises anatomical characteristics, and wherein the applying is based on the reference parameters of the structural feature of the object; and rendering, from the model, the avatar.
 28. The method according to claim 22, wherein the object is a human being.
 29. A system comprising: one or more processors for communicatively coupling to a communication network and operably coupled to a display device, the one or more processors operable to: monitor information received from one or more sources, wherein the one or more sources comprise one or both of a social media website and a news website; determine a common theme according to the information received from the sources; gather a plurality of images according to the common theme; determine characteristics according to the plurality of images; receive an input from an end-user; generate an avatar depicting an object; and generate a background for the avatar, wherein the background comprises one or more images selected from the plurality of images according to the input from the end-user and according to one or more of the characteristics.
 30. The system according to claim 29, wherein the characteristics comprise one or more of a subject matter, a level of importance, a timeliness, and a classification of geographic relevance.
 31. The system according to claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are operable to: adjust one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar of the object based upon the input from the end-user.
 32. The system according to claim 31, wherein adjusting one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar comprises a selection by the end-user of a motion template to define animation of the avatar.
 33. The system according to claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are operable to: prompt the end-user to interactively identify segments of the one or more images as one or more sub-images.
 34. The system according to claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are operable to: associate an image selected by the end-user with one or more aspects of the object, wherein the one or more aspects of the object are associated with reference parameters of a structural feature of the object, and wherein the reference parameters define one or more of a location of motion, a dimension of motion, and a constraint upon motion; apply the image selected by the end-user to a model, wherein the model comprises anatomical characteristics, and wherein the applying is based on the reference parameters of the structural feature of the object; and render the avatar according to the model.
 35. The system according to claim 29, wherein the object is a human being.
 36. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon, a plurality of code sections, each code section comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform the actions of a method, the actions comprising: monitoring information received from one or more sources, wherein the one or more sources comprise one or both of a social media website and a news website; determining a common theme according to the information received from the sources; gathering a plurality of images according to the common theme; determining characteristics according to the plurality of images; receiving an input from an end-user; generating an avatar depicting an object; and generating a background for the avatar, wherein the background comprises one or more images selected from the plurality of images according to the input from the end-user and according to one or more of the characteristics.
 37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 36, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise one or more of a subject matter, a level of importance, a timeliness, and a classification of geographic relevance.
 38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 36, wherein the actions comprise: adjusting one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar of the object according to the input from the end-user.
 39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 38, wherein adjusting one or both of appearance aspects and motion aspects of the avatar comprises selecting a motion template to define animation of the avatar.
 40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 36, wherein the actions comprise: prompting the end-user to interactively identify segments of the one or more images as one or more sub-images.
 41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 36, wherein the actions comprise: associating an image selected by the end-user with one or more aspects of the object, wherein the one or more aspects of the object are associated with reference parameters of a structural feature of the object, and wherein the reference parameters define one or more of a location of motion, a dimension of motion, and a constraint upon motion; applying the image selected by the end-user to a model, wherein the model comprises anatomical characteristics, and wherein the applying is based on the reference parameters of the structural feature of the object; and rendering, from the model, the avatar.
 42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 36, wherein the object is a human being. 